Nuclear Technician: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of nuclear technicians earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $73,150
- Hourly
- $35.17
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of nuclear technicians earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $99,110
- Hourly
- $47.65
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of nuclear technicians earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $110,240
- Hourly
- $53.00
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of nuclear technicians earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $123,990
- Hourly
- $59.61
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of nuclear technicians earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $133,600
- Hourly
- $64.23
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Nuclear Technicians assist nuclear physicists, nuclear engineers, or other scientists in laboratory, power generation, or electricity production activities. The median pay is $110,240 a year ($53.00 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).
- Median pay
- $110,240
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 6,470
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- medium preparation
Nuclear Technicians at a glance
Nuclear technicians in the United States earned a median annual wage of $110,240 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for nuclear technicians in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of nuclear technicians in the United States to grow 1.1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 900 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 6,470 people were employed as nuclear technicians in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for Nuclear Technicians
What nuclear technicians do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Follow nuclear equipment operational policies and procedures that ensure environmental safety.
- Conduct surveillance testing to determine safety of nuclear equipment.
- Monitor nuclear reactor equipment performance to identify operational inefficiencies, hazards, or needs for maintenance or repair.
- Test plant equipment to ensure it is operating properly.
- Apply safety tags to equipment needing maintenance.
- Follow policies and procedures for radiation workers to ensure personnel safety.
- Modify, devise, or maintain nuclear equipment used in operations.
Industries that employ it
Data Share of all nuclear technician jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).
- Utilities53.7% of all jobs in this occupation · -3.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $117,660
- Professional, scientific, and technical services26.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $99,560
- Waste management and remediation services3.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.1% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $101,370
- Administrative and support services2.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $95,970
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals1.6% of all jobs in this occupation · -3.8% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $104,480
- Management of companies and enterprises1.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $114,380
Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Public Safety and Security, Mechanical, Physics, Engineering and Technology, Education and Training, Chemistry.
Software nuclear technicians use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareIndustrial control software
- VMWare ESX ServerApplication server software
- VMwareClustering software
- LinuxOperating system softwareHot technology
- Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
- Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
- Structured query language SQLData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- Data logging softwareData base user interface and query software
Also called: Auxiliary Operator, Equipment Operator, Licensed Nuclear Operator, Non-Licensed Nuclear Equipment Operator (NLO), Non-Licensed Nuclear Plant Operator (NLO), Nuclear Auxiliary Operator.
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How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.